Preview: U-17 MNT Takes Next Step Towards World Cup Berth

TWO WINS AWAY FROM WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION: After opening the Concacaf U-17 Championship with three straight victories in Group F, the U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team is two victories from a 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup berth. The four semifinalists from the Concacaf Championship will punch their tickets to Brazil for this fall’s World Cup.

The USA finished as the top team in its group, setting up a Round of 16 fixture against tournament debutant Guadeloupe on Thursday, May 10 at 6 p.m. ET. The French overseas department reached the knockout stage as one of four group winners from the Concacaf Championship qualifying competition.

Saturday’s match will be broadcast on Univision Deportes Network and Concacaf Facebook. Per Concacaf, U-17 Championship matches are not open to the public. Follow the U-17 MNT throughout the tournament on Twitter. Instagram and Facebook.

USA GROUP F RESULTS

Date	Match	Kickoff (ET)/ Result	Venue
May 2	USA vs. Canada	W 3-2	IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.
May 4	USA vs. Barbados	W 6-1	IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.
May 6	USA vs. Guatemala	W 3-0	IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.

ROUND OF 16 SCHEDULE

Date	Match	Kickoff (ET)	Venue
May 8	El Salvador vs. Jamaica	10 a.m. | Concacaf FB, UDN	IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.
May 8	Trinidad vs. Honduras	3 p.m. | Concacaf FB, UDN	IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.
May 8	Haiti vs. Dominican Republic	4 p.m. | Concacaf FB, UDN	IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.
May 8	Mexico vs. Puerto Rico	6 p.m. | Concacaf FB, UDN	IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.
May 9	Panama vs. Guatemala	10 a.m. | Concacaf FB, UDN	IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.
May 9	Canada vs. Curacao	3 p.m. | Concacaf FB, UDN	IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.
May 9	Costa Rica vs. Nicaragua	4 p.m. | Concacaf FB, UDN	IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.
May 9	United States vs. Gudeloupe	6 p.m. | Concacaf FB, UDN	IMG Academy; Bradenton, Fla.

FLYING THROUGH GROUP F:  The USA collected all nine possible points in Group F, defeating Canada, Barbados and Guatemala to start the tournament on a three-match win streak. The U-17 MNT is currently riding an eight-game unbeaten streak dating back to last October and is undefeated in its last 10 matches at the Concacaf U-17 Championship.

The USA roared back from a 2-0 deficit with three unanswered, second half goals for a 3-2 win in its tournament opener against Canada and put together an authoritative performance in a 6-1 victory over Barbados in its second game. Facing a physical Guatemala side in its final group match, Griffin Yow wreaked havoc on the right wing en route to tallying two goals, and Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez iced the game with a late clinical header for a 3-0 victory. Both forwards benefitted from well-placed crosses sent into the box by Gio Reyna and Daniel Leyva, respectively.

The U-17s have been dangerous on set plays, scoring seven goals either directly from or through free kicks and corners in its first three games. Ocampo-Chavez netted his cycle-leading seventh goal against Guatemala, while Yow has found the back of the net five times in nine games for the U-17s.

USA VS. GUADELOUPE NOTES:

• The USA is 23-4-7 all-time against Caribbean teams at this tournament.
• This marks the first meeting between the two teams at the competition as it is Guadeloupe’s first appearance all-time at the Concacaf U-17 Championship.
• Guadeloupe earned a berth in the Round of 16 by winning its qualifying-tournament group. The island nation dominated the qualifying phase as the only team to rack up four victories and put together the phase’s highest goal differential (plus-14).
• Guadeloupe’s roster is split between 10 players born in 2002 and 10 born in 2003.
• Two 2003-birth year players: midfielder Louis-Alexander Merabli and forward Kenny Mixtur led the way for Les Gwada Boys in qualifying as each netted three goals.
• Guadeloupe was drawn into pre-qualifying as the No. 21 team in the Concacaf Men’s U-17 ranking.

U.S. U-17 MNT - 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship Roster by Position (Club; Hometown; U-17 Caps/Goals)
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Damian Las (Chicago Fire; Norridge, Ill.; 15/0), 12-Chituru Odunze (Vancouver Whitecaps FC/CAN; Calgary, Alberta.; 5/0)
DEFENDERS (7): 4-Axel Alejandre (FC United; Chicago, Ill.; 16/1), 3-Adam Armour (North Carolina FC; Cary, N.C.; 13/0), 13-Mauricio Cuevas (LA Galaxy II; Los Angeles, Calif.; 4/0), 14-Tayvon Gray (New York City FC; Bronx, N.Y.; 12/0), 5-Kobe Hernandez (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.; 16/2), 2-Joe Scally (New York City FC; Lake Grove, N.Y.; 16/1), 15-John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls; Chatham, N.J.; 4/0)
MIDFIELDERS (5): 7-Gianluca Busio (Sporting Kansas City; Greensboro, N.C.; 9/5), 20-Gilbert Fuentes (San Jose Earthquakes; Tracy, Calif.; 16/0), 8-Bryang Kayo (D.C. United; Poolesville, Md.; 2/0), 6-Daniel Leyva (Seattle Sounders FC; Las Vegas, Nev.; 3/0), 16-Adam Saldana (LA Galaxy; Panorama City, Calif.; 19/2)
FORWARDS (6): 18-Jack de Vries (Philadelphia Union; Wayne, Pa.; 2/0), 17-Tyler Freeman (Sporting Kansas City; Shawnee, Kan.; 5/1), 19-Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Seattle Sounders FC; Kent, Wash.; 17/7), 9-Ricardo Pepi (North Texas SC; McKinney, Texas; 8/1), 10-Gio Reyna (Unattached; Bedford, N.Y.; 10/2), 11-Griffin Yow (D.C. United; Clifton, Va.; 9/5)     

GUADELOUPE – 2019 CONCACAF U-17 CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER:
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Lohan Hill, 16-Nathan Aquilon
DEFENDERS (5): 2-Kendrick Tacalfred, 3-Nicolas Virapin, 4-Hans Dezac, 7-Hiendy Confiac, 13-Stephane Baucal
MIDFIELDERS (10): 5-Anthony Marie-Joseph, 6-Sohan Negrit, 8-Mathis Beziat, 10-Thomas Gille, 14-Lohan Molia, 15-Louis-Alexander Merabli, 17-Jonael Gervelas, 18-Youry Gravelot, 19-William Pezeron, 20-Noah Silo
FORWARDS (3): 9-Thomas Cesaiire Gedeon, 11-Kenny Mixtur, 12-Jemuel Lancien

GUADELOUPE SHINES IN PRE-QUALIFYING: Guadeloupe earned its place in the Concacaf U-17 Championship knockout stage with a dominant showing in qualifying. It kicked off its five-team group slate by rolling eventual runner-up Bonaire 7-0 before racking up three more wins over Saint Martin (1-0), Bahamas (5-1) and Aruba (2-0).

Les Gwada Boys put up a plus-14 goal differential in qualifying as nine players found the back of the net, led by midfielder Louis-Alexander Merabli and forward Kenny Mixitur with three goals apiece.

Guadeloupe is an overseas department of France and is a member of Concacaf, but not FIFA. It can participate in regional competitions such as the Concacaf U-17 Championship but is ineligible for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Therefore, should Guadeloupe reach the semifinals of the tournament, the next highest-ranked FIFA-affiliated team would qualify for the World Cup.

ABOUT GUADELOUPE: As an overseas department of France, Guadeloupe is a non-contiguous part of France in the same way that Hawaii and Alaska are part of the United States. Guadeloupeans are French citizens, the island uses the Euro and its citizens are represented in the French National Assembly and Senate. Part of the Leeward Islands and the French Antilles, nearly 400,000 people live on Guadeloupe’s six islands. 

The Guadeloupe senior team has had success in Concacaf competition, qualifying for three straight Gold Cups from 2007-2011 and reaching the semifinal in 2007. The U.S. Men’s National Team faced Guadeloupe in the 2011 Gold Cup, a 1-0 victory for the USA in Kansas City, Kansas.

RUN-UP TO FLORIDA: After a busy year of programming in 2018, the Concacaf Championship represents the U-17s’ third event of 2019. Last year, the team went 9-4-4 as it faced off against 11 different nations. The U-17 MNT’s last international competition came at the 2018 Nike International Friendlies last December. There, the USA went undefeated in three tightly contested games against Portugal, Turkey and Brazil.

Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2002 are eligible for the 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship, and head coach Raphael Wicky called in 16 players born in 2002 and four born in 2003.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT: This year marks the 19th Concacaf championship at this age level. Started in 1983, the regional competition sends four teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean to the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil.

The top three teams from each group qualify to the Round of 16. Four teams – Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico – advanced directly to the Round of 16 from a pre-tournament qualifying phase. The four tournament semifinalists earn berths to the U-17 World Cup.

In the group stage, the USA was drawn against Canada, Barbados and Guatemala. The top 16 teams in the Concacaf U-17 ranking were drawn into the main group stage, while the bottom 19 teams duked it in a pre-qualifying tournament for four Round of 16 berths.

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